Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

New York, NY

Project Details

2008

ArchitectWank, Adams, Slavin Architects

In recent years, cracks and movement of the exterior walls have been discovered on Frank Lloyd Wright’s iconic Fifth Avenue building, resulting in the museum’s decision to undertake an extensive assessment. The museum commissioned Robert Silman Associates to perform an assessment of the structural condition of the original 1959 portion of the building.

Silman was involved in numerous aspects of the building assessment including development of a monitoring plan to determine the movement of this complex structure, laser scanning to document the building’s unusual geometry, non-destructive testing and material testing to determine the building’s construction, and development of a finite element model of the building’s main rotunda.

Design services included the development of proposed structural restoration options, peer reviews, documentation preparation, and construction administration. Following the building assessment, Silman completed a comprehensive restoration of the museum’s exterior.